What is a humble address?

A humble address is a direct call from the House of Commons to the Sovereign, in this case the Queen, to request the government produce documents.

According Parliamentary Practice, a rulebook published in the 19th Century, the humble address is more binding than a simple opposition motion.

That is because it is an appeal to the head of state, rather than to the government who could otherwise choose to ignore it.

Speaker of the House John Bercow said such motions were “traditionally regarded as binding or effective”.

It has rarely been used in the last 200 years.

How did Labour use the humble address to call for the publication of Brexit files?

On 1 November 2017, Labour defeated the government over the publication of 58 studies into the economic impact of Brexit.

The studies had been commissioned for ministers who had fiercely opposed them being made public — leading opponents to believe they may contain information embarrassing to the government.

Labour's Sir Keir Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, tabled a "humble address" to call for the documents to be handed over to the Brexit Committee of MPs for scrutiny. They could then decide which to make public.

The humble address was passed unanimously as the Tories sensed defeat and so called on its MPs not to attend the vote to save face.

Keir Starmer said he expected ministers to release the studies as a result.

“Labour has been absolutely clear since the referendum that ministers could not withhold vital information from parliament about the impact of Brexit on jobs and the economy,” he said.

“It’s completely unacceptable for the Tories to have wasted months avoiding responsible scrutiny and trying to keep the public in the dark. The reality is that it should not have taken an ancient parliamentary procedure to get ministers to listen to common sense.

“As the Speaker has made clear, the government cannot ignore [the] binding decision. [Brexit Secretary] David Davis must now respond to parliament’s ruling and urgently set a date for when he will share these papers.”